No. 8 Kansas avenges earlier loss to No. 7 K-State, 90-78

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Jalen Wilson remembersevery slight. Every criticism. Every chip that’s landed on hisshoulder.

You can bet the Kansas forward remembers watching Kansas Statefans storm the court after beating the Jayhawks.

So with revenge on their mind, Wilson and his pals jumped on theseventh-ranked Wildcats in the rematch Tuesday night. He finishedwith 20 points, Kevin McCullar Jr. had 16 points and 13 rebounds,and the No. 8 Jayhawks rolled to a 90-78 victory that alsotightened the Big 12 standings at the midway point of conferenceplay.

“It was like a big rub in our face, them storming the court,”Wilson admitted. “I always remember stuff like that.”

Dajuan Harris Jr. added 18 points for the Jayhawks (18-4, 6-3),who built a 12-point halftime lead before coasting to their 17thstraight home win over K-State. They also won their second straightafter a three-game skid, and made sure to avoid taking back-to-backlosses inside Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since the 1988-89season.

“Hey, their guys are hard to guard. They’ve got a good team,”Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I actually thought we did a good job,for the most part, and our bench was terrific. That was the bestour bench has played so far.”

Markquis Nowell scored 23 points and Keyontae Johnson had 22points and 12 boards to lead the Wildcats (18-4, 6-3), who weretrying for their first regular-season sweep of their biggest rivalin four decades.

Nae’Qwan Tomlin added 11 points for Kansas State. DavidN’Guessan had 10.

“They play at a fast pace. You know they play better at home,”Nowell said. “They started early with turnovers. They got out intransition. They got the crowd involved. They had a huge first halfand I feel like we dug ourselves a hole.”

In their first meeting on Jan. 17, the Wildcats raced to a bigearly lead and controlled the game until late in the second half,when the Jayhawks forced overtime — only for Kansas State to win onJohnson’s alley-oop dunk.

It was the Jayhawks who controlled the rematch.

They used a 16-7 run early in the game, built by speeding up theWildcats and controlling the tempo. At one point, Kansas Statecoach Jerome Tang picked up a technical foul, and the Jayhawksstretched their lead to 32-19 in a blink.

“I didn’t want to get a technical. I didn’t mind getting atechnical, though,” Tang said. “I’ve been in here too many timeswhere I feel like the crowd impacts the referees. And they’re humanbeings, and this is no knock on them. I just wanted them to know Idid not feel like the calls were being even on both ends.”

The Wildcats answered with a run of their own, closing within37-32. But that’s when Wilson hit back-to-back 3-pointers and ZachClemence, forced onto the court due to foul trouble among starters,added one of his own.

Kansas eventually led 49-37 at the break. And while the Wildcatsbriefly got within six in the second half, the outcome never seemedin jeopardy. The Jayhawks stretched their lead to 16 beforecruising to the finish.

“I thought we had a bunch of self-inflicted wounds,” Tang said.“Part of it was the environment, part of it was the scheme and howwe tried to attack them. We’ll go back and look at it.”

OFFICIATING OOPS

Johnson had to sit with two fouls just 2 1/2 minutes into thegame. Only problem? The crew of John Higgins, Kip Kissinger andMarques Pettigrew gave one to the wrong player. By the time theycorrected their mistake, the Wildcats’ leading scorer hadunnecessarily ridden the bench for several minutes.

SELLOUT ... AND THEN SOME

For the first time in more than 15 years, more Kansas studentsredeemed tickets than there was space available inside AllenFieldhouse. The overflow had to watch the game on screens in theadjacent Horejsi Family Athletics Center, where the Jayhawks playvolleyball games. Those students also got refunds and concessionsvouchers.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State’s three losses in league play have been to rankedteams on the road: TCU, Iowa State and Kansas. And with a moreforgiving second half to the Big 12 schedule, the Wildcats remainfirmly in the conference title hunt.

Kansas got its mojo back with its win at Kentucky last weekend.This victory over another bunch of Wildcats was crucial because theroad doesn’t get any easier for the Jayhawks, who are in the midstof three straight games against ranked teams.

UP NEXT

Kansas State returns home for another top-10 showdown Saturdayagainst No. 10 Texas.

Kansas hits the road for the third time in four games againstNo. 13 Iowa State on Saturday.